


Like A Swiss Army Knife (with so many attachments)

by DigitalMoriarty



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Everyone loves Vanya, F/F, F/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Pseudo-Incest, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Reginald Makes Stupid Choices and Shenanagins Ensue, Specific Relationship Tag to be added once I figure out the endgame pairing, protective everyone really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 15:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19298764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigitalMoriarty/pseuds/DigitalMoriarty
Summary: Reginald Hargreeves has the absolutely brilliant idea to make use of Vanya as a training aid for the others. He didn't necessarily expect things to turn out the way they did. (If you save someone a thousand times, you can't help but think they're worth saving)





	Like A Swiss Army Knife (with so many attachments)

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so thank you to everyone on the Fiveya server who encouraged and enabled this, and thank you to the sacrificial lambs (because betas have better material to read) who looked at it and offered suggestions. The mistakes and flaws which remain are mine alone.

"Don't move Number Seven."

 

She had wanted to be useful.

 

She had only ever wanted to be _special_ , like the others she lived with, but special was forever out of her reach. But useful? She could be useful, right? Plenty of people were useful. She had taken notes, standing at Reginald Hargreeves' side as the others trained and it had given her the slightest hint of warmth. But it hadn't been good enough. Not for him. She was _ordinary_ and a drain and... and she had just wanted to be useful.

 

So when he had said "You will be assisting with training today Number Seven." she had been _happy_. Just a bit. Right up until he'd said, "You need to learn to manage your strength Number One. Careless grabbing and yanking could serve to injure those you intend to assist. As such, Number Seven is here for you to practice with." and Number One had given her a concerned look and Number Five had looked upset and she had trembled in fear because she knew how strong Number One (not Luther, not quite yet) was.

 

She had ended up in the infirmary with a broken arm.

 

It has been two years since that first bit of 'assisting with training', and now, standing in front of Diego's target, she does not move.

 

It's not an every day. Just when Reginald needs to try something, or thinks the Academy is slacking, or she's been especially burdensome. It's gotten more frequent as they've all gotten older though.

 

She tunes out Ben and Luther sparring and Allison and Klaus and Five doing... something, and just focuses on Diego. Forces herself to keep breathing and does not flinch when he throws the first knife. Even as it slices into her cheek. It's hardly the first time. _Diego_ flinches though, and looks like he wants to apologize but the ringmaster of this particular circus of unpleasantness snaps "Again Number Two." and he obeys after a half-instant of hesitation.

 

She picks up another three cuts before she's sent off to practice her violin. Not the worst thing she's come away with, not by a long shot, especially considers the number of knives Diego had thrown. She doesn't blame him. She doesn't blame _any_ of them, when things don't go right. Or when they _do_ go right, in Allison's case. They don't _want_ to hurt her and given that she can still remember how things used to be? Well, a little pain is hardly a steep price to pay for attention beyond disdain.

 

Twelve is plenty old enough to be able to make logical connections, and she knows that at least part of the change in their behavior is motivated by guilt. But, as she heads to get her injuries cleaned and bandaged, she can't really bring herself to mind. There are worse reasons to change.

* * *

 

 Five gives Diego dirty looks at dinner (Five had been kind to her, even before she started 'helping', and he remains protective, her first and firmest confidant) and after they've all been excused, when Diego comes up and apologizes, stammering out promises to improve, she reassures him.

 

"You _are_ improving. And I know you didn't mean to. It's okay."

 

She'd say more, but Five is there, hand on her wrist and towing her away to the nearest bathroom without so much as a word to Diego. She cooperates when he insists on inspecting the butterfly stitches holding her cuts together, his fingers warm as they ghost along her skin.

 

"I can't believe he cut you _again_. When did you last take something for the pain?"

 

He doesn't ask if there _is_ pain of course. He also doesn't wait for her to say 'It doesn't hurt that badly, so I didn't get anything for it'. He just gives her one of his intense looks and makes a noise like he's offended by the entire universe. He looks like he's about to go on one of his rants about how it isn't fair that the one member of their merry band without any powers of her own gets used as a training dummy, which she's pretty sure is Five-speak for 'I want to fix this but I can't and I don't like feeling powerless' when there's a knock on the still open door. But it's just Ben, coming to check on her too.

 

Five takes a step back, announces "I'll go get you some painkillers." and in another two steps has vanished. Ben brings with him his own brand of gentle concern and his eyes and voice are soft as he too checks her cuts.

 

"I'm sorry you got hurt again. Diego feels really guilty."

"I know. He apologized and he's doing his best. It's not like he did it on purpose."

 

There are things unsaid, but she doesn't mind. It's nice to be around Ben, who hasn't had her included in his training (yet) and who is happy to go along when she changes the topic to what book he's been reading lately.

 

Five returns with painkillers around the time Ben is halfway through a recounting of the latest chapter and she takes them, because both boys give her _looks_ , even though the cuts don't hurt all that badly.

 

By the time it's time for bed she has been fussed over by all of them in turn, each needing to make sure that what they had seen had been the extent of things, that she wasn't hiding any worse injuries. Which, to be fair, she had done before. And it's nice to be fussed over. She might be ordinary, but at least while Allison is reassuring her that no one will be able to see the scar or Diego is offering her warm milk he got from Mom she gets to feel like she _matters._

 

She goes to sleep reasonably content with her place in the world, and does not speak of her nightmares the next morning. No one needs to know about her dreams of Diego's powers failing him and the blade not curving around her and instead thunking into her chest. She's used to them.

 

Of course, her simple nightmares of pain and blood and the horror on Diego's face (she has imagined that horror on all of their faces, imagined what might happen in a worst case scenario in a thousand different nightmares) do not fill her with the same fear as the words that come at the conclusion of breakfast.

 

"I have determined that there are some areas in which your collective training is deficient. Today, we shall set to the work of remedying that. Number Seven, it will please you to know that this will require the presence of someone ordinary."

**Author's Note:**

> I... still don't know what the endgame pairing is, because I'm a goblin cosplaying as a fanfic writer and kinda fly by the seat of my pants 90% of the time. But I hope everyone enjoys going on this ride with me!


End file.
